Magnus Larsson, a complete genius, has discovered a way to construct buildings out of sand. While I believe he has explained himself best in the 15-minute video on Ted, I will provide an even briefer synopsis for those who only have 13 minutes.
Larsson proposes to use Bacillus pasteurii, a bacteria found in wetlands, as a natural cement to bind sand together, transforming the shifting sands of time to be immovable. Besides reducing desertification, this also provides a means to produce sand structures more suitable for kings and commoners alike than the little castles lining tourist beaches around the world.
To make structures or a giant wall in Africa (either one), balloons would be filled with the bacteria and placed in the way of moving dunes and then popped after the blowing sands covered them.
Some concerns from the public include the repercussions of removing substantial amounts of the bacteria from the wetlands, the sand would merely blow over or around the wall, and the sand may merely blow back to other unwanted and possibly inhabited areas.
Larsson admits there are many problems that need to be solved before this solution would be put in effect. I think even if the giant wall doesn't work, using the bacteria for housing structures is an excellent idea since it requires minimal water to construct buildings out of existing materials in harsh environments that probably do not have trees, etc.
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